


The Winnin' Side

by AustinB



Series: Bloodstream [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Natasha Romanov, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers Friendship, I'm glad there's a tag for that, M/M, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Vampire Bucky Barnes, Vampire Natasha Romanov, Vampire Steve Rogers, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-16 16:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5832811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AustinB/pseuds/AustinB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Winnin' Side

He winds up spending a lot of time with Natasha. She’s part of Bucky’s security team, but while he oversees operations, her skills are more…specialized. He doesn’t ask questions beyond that.

They see a lot of each other on the communal floor. If they're not gossiping about Barton or arguing over what to watch on the big screen, they're sitting quietly on opposite ends of the couch. She takes up as much space as she can, probably just to see if Steve will let her, which he does. She stretches her legs out across the cushions and tucks her toes under his thigh. He glances out of the corner of his eye at her, but she's reading a thick novel with brittle pages and pays him no mind.

She offers to teach him Krav Maga. It's actually a little enticing, but he's not sure he's ready for that.

He figured Bucky had asked her to keep tabs on him, and it may have started out that way, but Steve realizes that phase has passed when he and Bucky are on their floor, curled up on the couch reading in the sun and he gets a text from her.

“I think I might go see Nat,” he says to his phone. Bucky smiles at his book.

“You and your girlfriends.”

She asks him to take her shopping, which strikes him as odd for many reasons, but it becomes clear in the first two minutes that it’s _her_ taking _him_ shopping. She's wearing a purple dress with black leggings and gold sandals. Her toenails are painted purple, too. She loops her arm through his as she tugs him through the crowded mall, his face hot, though he's not sure why.

"Is this a gay friend thing?" he asks her.

"You're not a gay friend." He's about to be hurt, until he realizes that's not the part she meant. He doesn't have much time to wonder if Bucky told her he's bisexual or if she somehow figured it out on her own, because she's shoving T-shirts, button-downs, jeans and leather leggings into his arms and pushing him into a dressing room. She sits on the tiny bench in the tiny room with him.

“Are you gonna…” he waves his hand at the door. She shakes her head. He’s self conscious for the first two minutes, swapping shirts and pants as Natasha nods or shakes her head or laughs at his expressions. But it's more comfortable than he thought it'd be.

Steve has no intention of buying anything, but she seems to be having fun, and when he earns a wide, genuine smile from her it makes him exceptionally pleased. So he puts on the leather leggings and mugs his disapproval of them. She says, “Ok, those are going in the ‘absolutely’ pile. Bucky will lose his mind.”

Steve buys a few things he actually likes, and the godforsaken leather leggings because she’s still laughing about it.

Natasha rolls her eyes but lets him play the game with her too. He picks out things he thinks she’ll like, things he thinks she’ll look good in (which is basically everything). He hangs them in the fitting room and moves to sit on the couches outside, but she takes his arm and pulls him in the room with her.

“Uh,” he shoves himself awkwardly in the corner of the cramped space with her and twenty hangars of dresses, pants and shirts.

“Sit,” she points at the bench and takes off her shirt. Steve complies on autopilot.

She jokes that he’s trying to dress her up as Audrey Hepburn, going by the number of pencil skirts and black slacks. He hadn’t realized that was the direction he was going, but she pulls it off effortlessly.

She does him the honor of buying several items he chose for her, and lets him carry her bags as they stroll down the street to find some coffee.

* * *

Steve finds his learning capacity and retention expanded, so he downloads a language app and teaches himself Russian.

He’s heard Bucky murmur Russian curses sometimes when Steve’s got his mouth on him, and he and Natasha will slip between Russian and English depending on their moods.

He wants to surprise Bucky in bed with a Russian demand like “Vstat’ na koleni.” _Get on your knees_.

But when the three of them meet up one dreary evening for drinks and Natasha says to Bucky, “Fucking rain, give me your napkin,” Steve’s body responds before he can even register that it’d been in Russian.

Her left eyebrow says everything she needs to express as she takes his proffered napkin and wipes off her leather purse with it. Bucky’s just looking at him, expression carefully neutral. Steve looks straight at him and says, “Solntse vyydet zavtra.” _The sun will come out tomorrow._

He thinks his accent is decent, but Natasha snorts. Though it may be because Bucky’s glaring at him. Bucky stands slowly and leans down to say in Steve’s ear “Vy budete platit’ za eto.” _You will pay for this._

Steve turns his face slightly, so Bucky's lips brush across his cheek and says, “Obeshchaniye?” _Promise?_

Natasha guffaws as Bucky tows Steve away by the wrist to make out in the bar’s bathroom.

* * *

“Buddy, pal, _Steve_.”

“No.” Steve is regretting letting Clint in after he pounded frantically on his door. Steve is still in his flannel pajama pants and an old T-shirt, as close to depressed as he can manage these days, because he’s still incandescently happy. But Bucky’s gone to Japan on business with the vampire family there and Steve has hated every moment of it. Clint is a distraction, at least.

“I’m hopeless at this.” He needs to get Natasha a gift, though he won’t say the occasion.

“I fail to see how that's at all my problem." He’ll probably help, but it’s fun to watch Clint flail for a little.

“Steve. We’re brothers.”

“Eh—“ Steve puts his palm out, “Cousins at best.”

There’s a knock at the door. He's popular this afternoon. Steve goes to answer it as he talks to Clint over his shoulder.

“If she hates it, you’ll blame it on me.”

Tony’s standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking bored, which usually spells trouble. Or annoyance, at the very least. Steve groans.

“But if she loves it—“ Clint is still arguing.

“You’ll take full credit,” Steve says as he returns to the kitchen with Tony trailing behind.

"A happy Natasha is a happy house."

“Need a gift for Romanov?” Tony says, “I know just the thing.”

“I’m not taking advice from the vampire equivalent of a can of Red Bull.”

“Excuse you, I’m an excellent gift-giver.”

Clint gives Steve a pointed look. Steve sighs.

“Fine. But only because I respect Natasha too much to let you give her another Target coffee mug.”

* * *

The next time he sees her is in the lobby. He’s heading out to pick Bucky up from the airport, and she’s coming in from somewhere. She’s wearing black skinny jeans that end just above her ankle, red flats and a billowy navy blue top. She’s as stunning as she always is. She walks straight up to him and into a kiss, full on the mouth.

“Thank you.”

Even if she dazzles him on the regular, she’s also his friend, so he’s able to grin and tease, “So Clint gave me some credit?”

“No, he claimed it was all his idea. But I know him—and you—better than that.”

She kisses him again, on the cheek, and floats away. 


End file.
